That night, Admiral Olg gave a brief, general review of the current status of the underground base. These included things like the number of survivors who came in, the current amount of food, and various other supplies, the number of those who awakened. As the days pa.s.sed, the underground base became more and more orderly. More and more military personnel arrived as well as rescued survivors from the city.
Along with this, the military started to recruit those who have awakened their ability. Those who have an ability were dubbed [Users]. It was a trivial detail but something that took very long to decide.
These [Users] have abilities that range from acting as a walking refrigerator to being able to spit out a melting pot of lava. However, none of them were able to reach the extent of Captain Silver"s power. This further elevated his prestige among the people and he was generally regarded by the people as their beacon of light.
Of course, this had a lot to do with the Rear Admiral���s ceaseless promotion of Silver. It was a good strategy to keep the morale of the people high. If the people"s morale and spirits were low, they would not be as lively and excited to live on in a world where chaos was the norm. Admiral Olg"s desire was for the people to be in high spirits so they can have their own willpower to struggle and live on.
Winter was almost over and spring was almost here. Spring-Autumn stood on top of the underground base and watched the melting ice that slowly revealed the trees full of lush leaves and beautiful flowers.
When he first arrived, the trees were still in their "regular" size in that they weren"t very big. Now, the trees were gigantic, almost reaching the clouds. The entire forest was filled with darkness from the lack of sunlight that was unable to seep through the dense cl.u.s.ters of leaves.
The sight of the city could no longer be seen due to the obstruction of the trees. It was unknown what the state of the city was as of now.
Looking at the darkness in a daze, he thought about many things. The different foods he could no longer eat, his PC that was filled with pictures of cats, the chili he planted outside on his balcony.
He felt a cold touch on his shoulder. It was Rainmist, the beautiful mature lady.
"It"s dangerous outside, you know?" Spring-Autumn said.
The underground base has recently started allowing its citizens to use the elevator to come up. There were a few military men patrolling around but it was certainly not a safe place to be.
"I didn"t expect to see you here," Rainmist replied.
"Is this your first time out?"
"Yes. It"s quite surreal that the world we used to live in has changed this much."
"It"s not too bad," Spring-Autumn nodded and said.
Rainmist looked at him strangely and said, "That"s not what I mean."
Spring-Autumn continued his line of thought, "Isn"t it beautiful? The trees, the leaves, the sky, the air,"
"Did you go crazy from staying inside too long?"
[Integrating… 99%]
"Maybe? This world… I want to see more of it,"
At this moment, a roar shook the entire forest. A monstrous creature jumped and pounced towards Rainmist. It was an oversized bear reaching the size of a house.
Rainmist watched in fear as it came after her like a bullet. Its saliva dripped out of its mouth like a leaking bucket and its eyes glowed red with gluttony. Her mind numbed and her body froze in the face of such a creature.
The guards had no time to react against a creature with such incredible speed.
At the last moment, the bear was thrown back as it crashed into a steel wall.
Spring-Autumn positioned himself in front of Rainmist with one hand in the air. He was the one who knocked it back. With his eyes glowing green, he attacked the bear in its vital locations. The nape of its neck, the back, the crotch.
It had no time to react facing Spring-Autumn"s blazing fast speed. With a low grunt, it sprawled headfirst into the ground.
Spring-Autumn hugged Rainmist"s soft body gently. Their body made contact and his heat was transmitted to her, giving her a sense of comfort. Just like a magic pill, her fear dissipated away.
"It"s okay now,"
They returned back to the underground base with Rainmist"s complexion being pale. She did not reject when Spring-Autumn took her hand and brought her close.
The underground base was not in exactly the best condition. Survivors were constantly streaming in, albeit at a slower pace. While in the beginning, food was plentiful, with the number of members within the base now, rations had to be cut short to accommodate all the people. As such, many of the people of the base had lost a lot of weight.
Some were a lot paler than Rainmist who just had a terrifying experience. They were skinny and they didn"t have the energy to do much.
On the other hand, there were some that were as lively as before. This is because they have connections with a [User]. The base administrators had allocated more food and resources to families of ability users.
While one might expect the others would protest and retaliate, they accepted this difference in treatment with open arms. This is because while weapons and ammunition could protect them, so could [Users].
This is also the reason why Rainmist appeared to be as elegant and beautiful as ever and not just skin and bones due to her in-law having an ability user.
They arrived at the Azurite family area. Blue happily came to them. She was in a jolly mood. Her skin had a rosy complexion and her nicely sculpted face was as perfect as ever.
When she noticed her mother"s facial expression, she asked worriedly, "Did something happen?"
Spring-Autumn took responsibility and said, "Nothing much. We met a big bear,"
"Big bear? Don"t worry, mom. Season is very reliable,"
Spring-Autumn laughed and said, "Thank you, fellow comrade. I am indeed powerful,"
Rainmist quickly returned to her normal self when the two bantered back and forth. She smiled gently, making her face appear even more beautiful.
And with that, the small incident came to a pa.s.s as if nothing ever happened. However, things would not remain calm for so long.
That night, Spring-Autumn was approached by a few military men as well as the all-important Admiral Olg.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Admiral Olg said seriously, "I"m sorry but… You can"t stay here anymore,"